OUR VISION

Our vision is a world where people from historically excluded communities have the resources to fully realize their dreams and determine their own life paths.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to provide funded opportunities for learning, growing, and exploration. We support current and budding projects, small businesses, and nonprofit groups led by people from historically excluded communities.

Our Programs

OUR VALUES

Equity

We believe that social change should blossom from the communities that are directly impacted by oppression and injustice. We create space for people and groups that have been historically excluded from decision-making to experiment with new ideas and approaches.

Courage

We believe in creative and bold solutions to old problems. As Audre Lorde famously said, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” We support ideas and plans that haven’t been tried before, and the courageous people behind them.

Community

Our current socioeconomic system prioritizes corporations, but corporations don’t prioritize us. We believe that together, we can build whole community transformations. We envision a people-first world that no longer relies  on exploitative mega-corporations. 

Dreaming

We believe that dreaming is not only freeing, but necessary - and fun! We recognize that dreaming has too often been reserved for people with the time and freedom that many historically excluded communities don’t have access to. That’s why we aim to foster an environment where our grantee partners’ dreams are supported, and nurtured. 

OUR TEAM

  • Whitney Meilan is a dog mom, noodle-enthusiast, and co-founder of the Bambi Fund. She grew up between Hong Kong and Shanghai, China, and offers 15 years of experience at various non-profit organizations and businesses in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

    Whitney has worked with individuals and groups fighting for migrant justice, abolition, racial justice, international human rights, Indigenous self-determination, trans rights, and so much more. They earned their MA Social Justice & Human Rights from Arizona State University, and her BA Sociology & Cultural Studies from University of London.

    After supporting various criminal justice community projects through her consulting business Mixed Change, Whitney co-founded the Bambi Fund as a result of witnessing the dearth of funding available for start-up level organizations led by people most impacted by the injustices they seek to address.

    She leads the Bambi Fund's work to create economic and capacity building opportunities for systems-impacted community members; part of a wider effort to disrupt traditional philanthropy and direct funds and services to communities who need it most.

Whitney Meilan Yang (she/they)

  • Andrew is a self-proclaimed international Aussie who has lived among cultures and continents including Australia, Germany, China, and the United States. 

    He is a designer and dreamer with a dedication to fostering imagination, believing in peoples’ visions, and bringing them to reality. Andrew attended Swinburne School of Technology and HAWK University where he studied Product Design and Industrial Design. He worked as a Principal Designer for Frog Design in Germany, a leading global creative consultancy, and founded his own design consultancy business in Shanghai, China called Beach Creative.

    Today, Andrew leads the Bambi Fund’s program development and mentorship for the Hustle House program, while also running his start-up food business Huhu’s House of Dumplings.

Andrew Wong (he/him)

  • Bloom Sánchez (Shiewhibak/Kha’p’oe Ówîngeh/Tamaya/Mēxihcah) is a queer disabled researcher and community organizer currently residing on the historic homelands of O’odham and Piipaash peoples and their ancestors, where they earned degrees in Ecosystems Sustainability (B.S.), Sociocultural Anthropology (B.A.), and Biomimicry Design (Certificate) in 2022. Bloom’s lifelong community work spans across temperate deserts and sierras, semiarid highlands and prairies, cordillera, and other ecoregions of the North American Southwest, and includes stewarding urban and pueblo community gardens and food banks, running free workshops on food sovereignty and sustainable edible plant cultivation in small, arid, or indoor spaces, grant-writing, community surveying and petitioning, organizing events for local and global justice projects, intergenerational seed-saving, and offering traditional dance with their Danza Mexica group as a form of reciprocal education, prayer, and protest for the sacred protection of all lands, water, and beings. Bloom’s work centers on how we can integrate art and science to teach, heal, eat, and grow together.

Bloom Sánchez (they/them)

  • Ana’s journey with us began long before this role. She and her husband, Michael, were members of our very first Hustle House cohort, and she offers both lived experience and a strong professional background serving communities across all of Arizona.
    Before transitioning into nonprofit work, Ana spent years working in state government, where she witnessed firsthand how many systems are structured in ways that make it incredibly difficult for people to succeed. That experience pushed her toward work grounded in dignity, flexibility, and responsive community care.
    From supporting individuals experiencing houselessness to helping families navigate complex barriers, Ana has dedicated her career to ensuring people feel seen, supported, and equipped to grow.

Ana Samaniego (she/her)

OUR board of directors

  • A seasoned entrepreneur and accomplished leader, Jake Hylton brings a unique blend of business acumen and unwavering commitment to his role as Executive Director of LOOKOUT. His journey began at the age of ten, apprenticing under his mother in her restaurant consulting firm, where he gained invaluable experience in the world of small business. Jake's career has been marked by diverse pursuits, from managing and founding arts organizations to navigating the startup realm, where he ultimately established his own successful venture in residential housing. Driven by a profound dedication for Arizona's LGBTQ+ community, Jake spearheaded the launch of LOOKOUT as its Founding Executive Director.  His leadership is fueled by a potent combination of entrepreneurial spirit, a deep-seated passion for social impact, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

  • May moved to Arizona after high school to attend ASU to study Philosophy, but their college career ended when they were incarcerated for two years. During their time, May focused their energy on self development by completing programs and bettering their education through reading books donated to May by an ASU professor. May spent much of their time tutoring women to achieve their GED which they felt was extremely rewarding. May also was chosen to be a speaker of a TED X event and had training from professional speaking coaches and implemented that training for women incarcerated who wanted to work on their public speaking skills.

    After May’s release, May focused on being a voice for marginalized communities because they met so many women who helped them during their hard times who were disenfranchised. May finally found their calling when they met with the Community Coordinator of the ACLU of AZ and volunteered with them and was rewarded with the title as one of their keynote speakers because of their consistent activism and involvement in the community. For instance, when data showed that violence and harm increased towards the AAPI community, May led in organizing a vigil for the AAPI hate crime victims in Atlanta because their community needed to heal and not feel alone and unheard. After seeing mixed feelings from other communities of color, May was compelled to organize a Unity March because they believe change won’t happen unless we have cross-cultural collaboration and the community needs to fight for social equity in solidarity. Since working as the Advocacy Director for AZ AANHPI for Equity, May has led multiple political campaigns including defeating a predatory sports arena from being built in Tempe, and  in 2024, May was the honoree as the Changemaker of the Year at the American Courage Awards hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Washington D.C.

  • Dr. Yeshaq Sarra Tekola (they/he) is a passionate sustainability scientist and community organizer who has dedicated their life to climate justice and just transition initiatives. As the founder and executive director of Addis Alem Consulting, Dr. Tekola’s mission is to bring “the science to sidewalks.” They hold a PhD in Sustainability from Arizona State University, where their research explored the linkages between climate change and colonialism and argued decolonization as a climate solution. Additionally, they work alongside Indigenous communities in the Navajo (Din’e) Nation to fund and implement sustainable ecological restoration projects. Since 2018, they have been doing resource drives to land defender elder communities in Black Mesa.

    Over their career, they have founded three nonprofits and led countless campaigns. Their participatory research with Got Green in South Seattle led to impactful policy advocacy at the Seattle City Council. At Black Lives Matter Phoenix, which they co-founded, Dr. Tekola spearheaded the “People's Budget Tempe” project, successfully engaging over 500 frontline communities to reallocate millions of the city budget towards supporting BIPOC communities in accessing sustainability and building resilience in over-policed neighborhoods. In an advisory capacity, Dr. Tekola serves on the advisory board for the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice and is the Just Transition Climate Finance Consultant for the Chisholm Legacy Project where they research and write reports on climate finance.